Auto CAD help needed - create your own hatch pattern?

Thompo17

Is it possible to create your own hatch pattern?

I'm can draw my own wee design (on the normal blank page) but is there a way of storing it as a hatch pattern and using it?

PS: If I make it as a "block" could I use it anyway as a "hatch"?

I've got Auto CAD 2006

xzibit

That I'm not sure. I know you can make your own linetypes, but haven't tried hatch patterns. Will have a look a min, and post back my findings.

Edit: I opened AutoCAD, and looked in the help topics, and found this.

Using Hatch Pattern Definition Files
The hatch patterns supplied by AutoCAD LT are stored in the text file aclt.pat. You can add pattern definitions to this file or create your own files.

The Pattern area of the Boundary Hatch dialog box displays the names of all the hatch patterns defined in the aclt.pat text file. You add new hatch patterns to the dialog box by adding their definitions to the aclt.pat file. Whenever a slide name in aclt.slb matches a pattern name in aclt.pat, the slide is also displayed by the Boundary Hatch dialog box image tile.

You can add a pattern to the library file aclt.pat or store it in a file by itself, in which case the file name must be the same as the pattern name. For instance, a pattern named PIT would reside in the file pit.pat.

Regardless of where the definition is stored, it has the same format. It has a header line that looks like this (the description is optional):

*patternname[,description]

It also has one or more line descriptors in the following form.

angle, x-origin,y-origin, delta-x,delta-y [, dash-1, dash-2,…]

AutoCAD LT ignores both blank lines and text to the right of a semicolon.

For example, a pattern called L45 that creates 45-degree lines separated by spaces of 0.5 in length would be defined as follows:

*L45,45 degree lines

45, 0,0, 0,0.5

This simple pattern specifies that a line is to be drawn at an angle of 45 degrees, that the first line of the family of hatch lines is to pass through the (0,0) drawing origin, and that the spacing between hatch lines of the family is to be 0.5 drawing units. L45 is the name of the pattern, and 45 degree lines is the optional description of the pattern displayed by the list option of the HATCH command. (If you omit the description, do not enter a comma after the pattern name.) Each line in a pattern definition file can contain up to 80 characters.

xzibit

Thompo17 wrote:

I've been searching all morning for advice on the internet and there is several sites selling a program to create/edit your own hatchs.

Is that the only solution then? kinda gutted because i'm not prepared to pay for a program just to create 1 hatch

Sorry for not replying sooner!!

I don't see why you can't draw a pattern in CAD then save it as a hatch file? Have you tried this? Save a pattern and rename it from .dwg to .pat and putting it in the correct folder?

LT may be different. I know in the hatch patterns, there are blank boxes, so it looks as though you can add your own. I will try and make my own today and get back to you!